Wearable electronic device

Abstract

The described technology relates to a wearable electronic device. The wearable electronic device may include a touch display, a rim surrounding the touch display, a rim touch sensor disposed on at least a portion of the rim, a band portion that allows the wearable electronic device to be worn on a user's wrist, and a control unit configured to receive a rim touch on the rim through the rim touch sensor and generate a control signal for controlling the wearable electronic device based on at least one of attributes of the rim touch.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A wearable electronic device for wearing on a user's wrist, the wearable electronic device comprising:
 a touch display comprising a display area, the touch display configured to display a screen thereon and to sense a display touch received on the display area and generate a display touch signal; 
 a rim surrounding the touch display and not overlapping the display area when viewed over the touch display; 
 a rim touch sensor disposed on at least a portion of the rim, the rim touch sensor configured to sense a first rim touch that is received on the rim and outside the display area to generate a first rim touch signal; 
 a band portion configured to allow the wearable electronic device to be worn on the user's wrist; and 
 a control circuit connected to and in signal communication with the touch display and the rim touch sensor, the control circuit configured to:
 receive the display touch signal from the touch display, 
 configure a first screen based on the display touch signal and control the touch display to display the first screen, 
 subsequently, receive the first rim touch signal from the rim touch sensor, 
 process the first rim touch signal to determine whether the first rim touch is clockwise or counter-clockwise, and 
 in response to determining that the first rime touch is clockwise, generate signals to control the touch display to perform at least one of capturing the first screen, zoom-in of the first screen and zoom-out of the first screen. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The wearable electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to select at least one item to display on the first screen based on the display touch signal, select a function related to the selected at least one item based on the rim touch signal, and generate a control signal to perform the selected function. 
     
     
       3. The wearable electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
 receive, from the rim touch sensor, a second rim touch signal that is received on the rim following the first rim touch, 
 process the second rim touch signal to determine whether the second rim touch is clockwise or counter-clockwise; 
 in response to determining that both of the first rim touch and the second rim touch are clockwise, generate signals to control the touch display to perform a first function; and 
 in response to determining that the first rim touch is clockwise and the second rim touch is counter clockwise, generate signals to control the touch display to perform a second function. 
 
     
     
       4. The wearable electronic device of  claim 3 , wherein in response to determining that both of the first rim touch and the second rim touch are clockwise, the control circuit is configured to control the touch display to perform at least one of rotating the first screen and scrolling the first screen. 
     
     
       5. The wearable electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine at least one of a rim touch position, a rim touch duration time, a rim touch pressure, and a rim touch shear force direction of the first rim touch. 
     
     
       6. A method of controlling a wearable electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a control circuit, a display touch signal from a touch display, the touch display comprising a display area, the touch display configured to display a screen thereon and to sense a display touch received on the display area and generate the display touch signal; 
 configuring, by the control circuit, a first screen based on the display touch signal; 
 controlling, by the control circuit, the touch display to display the first screen; 
 subsequently, receiving, by the control circuit, a first rim touch signal from a rim touch sensor, the rim touch sensor disposed on at least a portion of a rim surrounding the touch display and not overlapping the display area when viewed over the touch display, the rim touch sensor configured to sense a first rim touch that is received on the rim and outside the display area to generate the first rim touch signal; 
 processing, by the control circuit, the rim touch signal to determine whether the rim touch is clockwise or counter-clockwise; and 
 in response to determining that the rime touch is clockwise, generating, by the control circuit, signals to control the touch display to perform at least one of capturing the first screen, zoom-in of the first screen and zoom-out of the first screen. 
 
     
     
       7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a program recorded thereon for performing a method of controlling a wearable electronic device, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a control circuit, a display touch signal from a touch display, the touch display comprising a display area, the touch display configured to display a screen thereon and to sense a display touch received on the display area and generate the display touch signal; 
 configuring, by the control circuit, a first screen based on the display touch signal; 
 controlling, by the control circuit, the touch display to display the first screen; 
 subsequently, receiving, by the control circuit, a first rim touch signal from a rim touch sensor, the rim touch sensor disposed on at least a portion of a rim surrounding the touch display and not overlapping the display area when viewed over the touch display, the rim touch sensor configured to sense a first rim touch that is received on the rim and outside the display area to generate the first rim touch signal; 
 processing, by the control circuit, the rim touch signal to determine whether the rim touch is clockwise or counter-clockwise; and 
 in response to determining that the rime touch is clockwise, generating, by the control circuit, signals to control the touch display to perform at least one of capturing the first screen, zoom-in of the first screen and zoom-out of the first screen.